Change We Can Believe In

Georgetown 65, South Florida 40.  So starts the 6-0 end to the season that will propel us to the tournament... right?

In Which We Become Far Too Invested in the Athletic Exploits of 18-22 Year Olds (Myself Included)

3 straight Hoya losses have the faithful reeling, and with some justification: in the past two games, the team has been a half-step slow and 6 inches off the mark against West Virginia and Seton Hall.  It's a much different look from the team that shredded UConn on the road, or thumped Syracuse about 10 days ago, and for fans who have invested a lot of time, energy and (yes) money into their support of the team, it's unsettling.

That said, just as it's bizarre in victory to elevate college athletes to demigod status (H/T: The Plank), it's bizarre to pile on a group of college athletes in defeat (even unpleasant and unexpected ones to Seton Hall) as if their goal is to please us, The Excited Fan, and when they fail, we can express our disappointment however we please.  Obviously, no one is stopping fans from yelling out complaints from the stands or online, and we can bellow about bad shots or shoddy defense as loudly as we want.  But it strikes me as just the slightest bit odd that these 18 to 22 year olds are being held to a standard of excellence--and in college basketball and football--that is not expected of 18 to 22 year olds in college more broadly.  Lose 3 games in a row? I know people who have skipped class 3 weeks in a row.  In a shooting slump? I've been in writing slumps/testing slumps.  Groaning after missed free throws? Good thing nobody groaned when people couldn't answer questions in class (although in law school, it sometimes feels that way).  

It's a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg argument, to be sure: when college sports (particularly football and basketball) are marketed like their professional counterparts, when the coaches are paid comparably to their professional counterparts, and are played in arenas and stadiums as large, if not larger, than their professional counterparts, it's understandable that fans have reactions that resemble those at professional sporting events.  With the college sports-media industrial complex occupying such a prominent national status, it seems unlikely that the scale of the competition is going to decrease anytime soon.  Conversely, maybe we should be expecting a bit more of 18 to 22 year olds in college--certainly, when it comes to effort-based measures such as showing up to class and/or being prepared for class, the bar could be raised a bit.

Pointing out that college students loaf, coast, and generally "take plays off" doesn't make it any easier to watch our favorite teams lose heartbreakers or stinkers.  But maybe those who cheer on those college teams--particularly those who graduated from those schools-- could remember what it was like to be an undergraduate and ease up on their underage heroes.  After all, they are student athletes, and as such, not only are they busy with classes and growing up, but they're members of the alumni family.   We seem to cut a lot more slack for alums who help start unjustified wars than for those who hoist up unjustified 3s.  Just saying.

Contemplation under Construction

This sounds like a fantastic facility--here's hoping it gets off the ground.

TMQ Shows Georgetown Some Love

In his lengthy, weekly column on the NFL, Gregg Easterbrook gives a shout out to Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz ('89):

Schwartz is one of the NFL's underappreciated figures: A smart guy who graduated from Georgetown University, Schwartz not only does a fabulous job but also belongs to that small club of NFL coaches who read the New York Times and books about intellectual affairs. 

Easterbrook runs the risk of being redundant--generally, "smart guys" (and "smart girls") tend to graduate from Georgetown--but still, always good to see Georgetown mentioned in a positive light.

On a related note to the title: the McCain campaign has been trying to say that Barack Obama is "flip-flopping" on his pick for the World Series.   Politico piles on, as well.  One problem: "showing some love" for the Rays, which is what Obama did at a rally the other day, does not mean what McCain and Politico think it means.  Easterbrook showed Georgetown some love in his article; he didn't say he roots for Georgetown football, think that Georgetown is the best school in the country, or anything like that.  Rather, he gave it the written version of a pound/fist bump/dap/terrorist fist jab.  Same with Obama: shaking hands does not equate to picking them, or even rooting for them to win, the World Series.  He's just showing some love.

Thanks, Coach

I can’t stress this enough, and maybe it’s natural to compare him to Roy, but Greg is totally different. -JTIII

Oh, Coach was talking about Greg Monroe, 6'-11", top-rated recruit and probable starting center for the Hoyas? Whoops.

33 days until tip-off.  Can't wait.

Hoya Homecoming

Maybe because it was my first true "homecoming" as an alumnus, but this past weekend's Homecoming festivities were very, very enjoyable.  Kudos to all those who helped organize the weekend's events; you made this "young alum" very happy and proud to call Georgetown home.

Good seeing everyone this weekend, and for those who weren't able to make it, hopefully you found a large piece of New York-style pizza to eat at 3 am.  

Hoya Saxa.

Community Organizing in the Washington Post

"Can I get an amen?"

Moving profile written by Courtland Milloy of a longtime community organizer from Holy Comforter St. Cyprian on East Capitol, Hal Gordon.  Let the Republicans tell his community and his group to its face that its organizers don't have "real" responsibilities.

Note the mention of Fr. Ray Kemp, professor/mensch/guru extraordinaire of Georgetown University and Washington, DC.  (Hence the name of the link, for the 8 pm-ers out there.)

Alumni Event at Indebleu

Anybody going to this shindig?

Indebleu
707 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20001

6:30 p.m.

As the title of the blog alludes to oh-so-cleverly, all things Georgetown also capture my interest. Kudos to the alumni powers-that-be for putting together a multi-city event for alums, but between the time (dinnertime), the day of the week (Thursday may be the new Friday, but they're not Friday) , and the swanky location, I'm a little intimidated and not too likely to go.

Also, for an event that was heavily marketed toward young alums, why isn't it at a more young-alum-friendly location (Rocket Bar, etc.)? Indebleu's website promotes bottle service for late nights Thurs-Sat.  Even if the event is pre-$200/$500 minimum time, something tells me it's still going to be $9 beer night.  

The Adjustment

The adjustment to 1L life is a two-pronged adjustment: adapting from a do-nothing summer, and adjusting from Georgetown (this is only somewhat Georgetown--more later).  First, from 3 months of relaxation and very few, if any responsibilities:  obviously, there's a bit a system shock.  While over the summer, I was able to kick the collegiate habits of staying up until 3 am, eating complete garbage, and Guitar Hero, I developed new ones.  A renewed appreciation for television? Check.  Google Reader? Probably the best, worst thing to happen to me.  An obsessive focus on the 2008 campaign? Inevitable.  Now, spending hours on end reading, with easy access to both television and internet, has been a bit of a challenge, but my desire to be learning about something a bit more important than how the team looks at Kenner League has been able to subordinate those other things.  

The adjustment from Georgetown life has been helped by a number of factors:

-The amount of work I have.  It's just... more.  Or, more accurately, it's more work, more consistently.   Think of it as having a 5 pager due each day in terms of how much time you put into it.  Then repeat each day, Sunday-Thursday/Friday.  You simply don't have as much time to screw around as much.  Doesn't mean I don't get out to socialize, it just means that I have to really sock away the work a bit more.

-The summer off in between school and college.  Huge benefit.  People often ask, "what did you do before you came here?" I tell them that I came straight from undergrad, which is true, but I really want to tell them that I took 3 months sabbatical, because that's what has been just as helpful.  In that time off, I was able to recharge my batteries spiritually, economically (somewhat), and infrastructure-wise.  It also helped give me distance between My Georgetown Experience™, filled with extracurriculars, late nights, and tons of people, and 1L.  Instead of trying to relive Georgetown on a new campus, I've made my peace with my time on the Hilltop, drew lessons from it, and then focused my goals for the next 3 years.  As a result, I've resisted the temptation to join every club, I don't go out for the sake of going out, and I've prioritized getting the most out of my classes and trying (the next 2 years) to position myself for a job/field that I'm interested in, through class and through clubs/activities/internships.  Obviously, I was massively lucky to have had the opportunity to take 3 months for myself, but it was also essential.

I'm also much cleaner and more organized than I used to be, as an added plus.

The Lifestyle

It's a strange blend of a monastic existence of focusing on texts for a good period of time, living in an "apartment-style dorm" (got my own bedroom, share the common space/kitchen/bathroom) on the law center campus near my classes/the gym. Mix that with a young adult life in DC (new restaurants, meeting with friends, sporting events, etc.), and you have a fair approximation. On Saturdays, I'm hoping to get out to Northern Virginia to do some canvassing for Barack (more on the first outing later).  Living in "downtown" as opposed to Georgetown definitely has its benefits, too: I'm 4 minutes from the Judiciary Sq. metro, 8 minutes from Chinatown, 5 minutes from Union Station, and 15 minutes from Eastern Market (all times walking), plus, my arteries have cleared up due to the distance between me and Philly Pizza (although it did just get a few blocks closer: http://www.thehoya.com/node/16225) .